South African psychiatrist Ray Berard accused of patient sexual exploitation, involvement in family business

INSTEAD of hearing details of the intimate relationship between psychiatrist Ray Berard and patient Sylvia Ireland, the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) heard reasons why the hearing should be postponed.

The professional conduct inquiry was expected to go ahead yesterday and today, but Berard’s representative, Graham van der Spuy, instead argued for a postponement to allow for more preparation time.

In July 2008 Ireland wrote to the HPCSA accusing her former psychiatrist of having used her therapy sessions, for more than two years, to have sex.

Her husband Stuart Ireland, a high-profile businessman in the beauty industry, was footing the bill for the sessions.

Stuart Ireland died two years ago while attempting to obtain a divorce, citing her affairs and lavish spending as reasons for the end of the marriage.

Sylvia Ireland said Berard used his position as her psychiatrist and marriage counsellor to prescribe her a number of drugs, blackmail her into having sex, control her marriage, and go into business with her husband.

According to the news magazine Noseweek, Stuart Ireland appointed Berard as a director of his company Prestige Cosmetics while the psychiatrist continued to send erotic SMSes to Sylvia Ireland.

Sylvia Ireland then confessed details of the affair to her husband, prompting Berard to resign as director.

Dressed all in black with a leopard print jacket, Ireland stared straight ahead throughout the hearing at the Belmont Conference Centre in Rondebosch, Cape Town, yesterday, avoiding eye contact with Berard.

According to the charge sheet, Berard was guilty of unprofessional conduct in that, during the period October 2005 until February 2008, he had a doctor-patient relationship with Ireland.

The charge sheet said Berard had “Misused the position of trust and confidence towards your patient by entering into an intimate physical relationship with her and/or having sexual intercourse with her.”

The hearing continues.

Source: Michelle Jones, “Bid to delay psychiatrist’s sex case,” Independent Online, URL: http://www.iol.co.za

Louisiana “school counselor” sentenced to 30 years prison for child rape is actually licensed psychiatrist

MEDICAL LICENSE INFO FOR Allison Campo Hargrave, M.D. 224 ST. LANDRY ST., STE. 2-B LAFAYETTE, LA 70506 Phone: (337) 235-4554 License

Number	License Category	Issue Date	Reinstatement Date	Current Through	Current Status	Specialty
MD.14022R	Medicine and Surgery	03/20/2001		06/07/2010	License suspended pending administrative action	Psychiatry

Medical/Professional School	Degree	Date Graduated
Louisiana State University School of Medicine	M.D.	05/18/1996

A former Ascension Episcopal School counselor will spend 30 years behind bars for raping a 14-year-old female student who went to her for in-school guidance.

U.S. District Judge Richard Haik sentenced Dr. Allison Hargrave, 40, of Lafayette, to 30 years in prison followed by 20 years of supervised release.

Haik told Hargrave during her sentencing Wednesday evening that he strongly considered putting her in jail for the remainder of her life.

“I wanted to, but I just couldn’t justify it,” Haik said. “Thirty years is a long, long time, Ms. Hargrave.”

Haik, who also ordered Hargrave to pay $279,454 in restitution to the victim, had harsh words for Hargrave.

“You manipulated, and you played the game,” Haik said. “And you lost.”

During the sentencing, Haik told Hargrave he would recommend she be placed in a prison facility where she can get “serious medical treatment for a serious problem you have.”

In March, Hargrave pleaded guilty in federal court to the crime of attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity.

Hargrave, wearing a bright pink Iberia Parish Jail inmate jumpsuit, solemnly walked out the courtroom after Haik sentenced her. She did, however, apologize for her actions earlier in the sentencing.

Hargrave, who was a counselor and yoga instructor at the school, began counseling the 14-year-old female victim during spring 2009. Haik sharply criticized Hargrave on Wednesday for taking advantage of the student, who went to Hargrave for help with depression and suicidal feelings.

“You will survive,” Haik told Hargrave. “I pray to God that young lady does too.”

Hargrave continued her relationship with the minor during the summer of 2009, and by that fall, Hargrave began sending the victim text messages and emails “graphically discussing engaging in sexual activities with the minor and making plans to meet the minor to engage in the sexual activities,” according U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley, who represents Lafayette as part of Louisiana’s Western District.

“This case reflects the serious consequences and fallout of individuals who sexually abuse minors,” Finley said in a news release.

“The harm done to children is long range and often irreversible. The actions of the defendant are disturbing, and the sentence is justified.”

During the fall of 2009, Hargrave “raped the minor female in a medical office in Lafayette,” Finley said. Hargrave continued to sexual exploit the victim into January 2010.

Source: Nicholas Persac, “Ex-school counselor to serve 30 years,” The Advertiser, August 3, 2011.

Italian psychiatrist Diego Chianese convicted of patient rape

On March 26, 2011, psychiatrist Diego Chianese of Merate, Italy, was given a 64-month conditional sentence for sexual violence (rape) with aggravating circumstances.

Chianese, who was employed at Mandic Hospital, was convicted of engaging in a sexual relationship with a vulnerable 35-year-old female patient who had come to him for treatment for depression.

Chianese never denied the relationship but argued that it was consensual and that the patient only filed the complaint against him when he refused to leave his wife for her.  However, the district attorney showed that the patient was in a condition of vulnerability which would have precluded her ability to give consent and would have enabled Chianese to exploit that psychological vulnerability for sex.

A conditional sentence does not include jail but provides for the condition that if he should commit a similar crime during the term of the sentence, he would have to serve the prison time for the first offense as well as any incarceration resulting from the second charge.

Chianese was additionally suspended for one year from private practice and banned for life from working in public hospitals and was also required to deposit 30,000 Euros ($40,000 USD) as a precautional deposit pending the outcome of a civil lawsuit against him.

Source: Laura Achler, “Five years sentence for the psychiatrist who abused his patient,” La Gazzetta di Lecco, March 26, 2011.

Indiana places psychiatrist Mervin Smucker on indefinite probation; lost Wisconsin license for sex with patient

On January 26, 2011, the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana issued a Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Order, denying psychologist Mervin Smucker’s license renewal application.  Smucker made a timely request for a Board review of the decision to deny his renewal.  Ultimately, the Board decided to renew the license but placed it on indefinite probation.

This action is in response to actions taken upon Smucker by the Wisconsin Psychology Examining Board, to whom Smucker surrendered his license on February 20, 2010.

According to that Board’s document, Smucker, who held a faculty position at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and provided services at two hospitals in addition to a private practice, engaged in a dual relationship with a patient.  Specifically, the document states that between October 2002 and May 2005, Smucker treated a woman for trauma she had experienced while a foreign exchange student in which she was abducted and raped and witnessed her boyfriend’s murder.

Smucker’s dual involvement with the patient included giving her rides home after two or three treatment sessions, being together with the patient in his home or other property he owned and (according the to the patient’s allegations), engaging in sexual contact and intercourse with her while she was his client.  The document states in particular that the patient attended a conference on child sexual abuse and incest at which Smucker was a presenter and that the two had connecting rooms while they stayed at the hotel.  The Indiana Board’s document states that the patient filed a lawsuit against Smucker in 2007 alleging a sexual relationship and seeking money damages for sexual assault. The suit was settled in July 2009, under which the former patient received money damages and other consideration.

The document also states that Smucker is currently working as a consultant and trainer in Germany.

Source: Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Order in the Matter of the License of Mervin Smucker, Ph.D., License No. 20041542A, Indiana State Psychology Board Cause No. 2010 PB 0003; Final Decision and Order 0000051, in the Matter of the Disciplinary Proceedings Against Mervin R. Smucker, Ph.D., State of Wisconsin Before the Psychology Examining Board.

Psychiatrist Mandeep Behniwal convicted, discplined by state for sexual incident with patient

On June 7, 2010, the California Medical Board placed psychiatrist Mandeep Behniwal on probation for seven years with terms and conditions.

According to the Board’s document, Behniwal was sentenced in Sacramento County Superior Court to three years informal probation following his no contest plea to a criminal charge of assault.

[Behniwal] pulled [the patient’s] breast out of her bra and blouse and sucked on it.  [The patient] observed that [Behniwal’s] penis was out of his fly and exposed.  He ejaculated on his hand and the hand of [the patient]. He told [the patient] she was beautiful and that he was attracted to her.”

The Board’s document reveals that on October 30, 2006, Behniwal had provided medication management to a patient whom he had been treating for one year and that, before she could exit his office, he “proceeded to put his hand down [the patient’s] blouse and under her bra.  He then firmly gripped her breast. [Behniwal] pulled [the patient’s] breast out of her bra and blouse and sucked on it.  [The patient] observed that [Behniwal’s] penis was out of his fly and exposed.  [Behniwal] put his hand down [the patient’s] pants and inserted his finger into her vagina.  He ejaculated on his hand and the hand of [the patient]. He told [the patient] she was beautiful and that he was attracted to her.”

The patient reported this incident to law enforcement.  An evidentiary examination showed positive for DNA fluid on the patient’s ring finger.

Source: Decision in the Matter of the Accusation Against Mandeep Behniwal, M.D., Physician and Surgeon Certificate No. A 79753, File No. 02-2006-179736, California Medical Board.

Psychiatrist Charles D. Morgan referred patient for electroshock then engaged in sexual contact afterward; state takes license

On January 19, 2011, the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board accepted the surrender of psychiatrist Charles D. Morgan’s license to practice medicine for unprofessional conduct.

According the Board’s Order, Morgan provided treatment to a female patient for approximately two years, ending in late June 2008.  Approximately one week earlier, Morgan admitted the patient to the behavioral health unit of Mercy Medical Center in Oshkosh, Wisconsin for electroconvulsive therapy (“electroshock”) and while she was hospitalized, Morgan kissed her romantically.

Following her discharge a week later, Morgan told the patient he wanted to talk with her at his office, which was also in the Medical Center.  While she was in his office, he engaged in sexual contact with her “which resulted in his orgasm,” according to the Order.

Morgan left a message on the patient’s cell phone the next day that what had occurred in his office needed to stay confidential or he could lose his license.

The patient reported the incident to her counselor and Oshkosh Police.

While she was in his office, he engaged in sexual contact with her “which resulted in his orgasm,” according to the Order.

In his interview with police, Morgan stated that the patient was “the aggressor and a predator.  She came on to him and wanted him to have sexual contact with her and he finally gave in.”  The police investigation resulted in charges of Sexual Exploitation by a Therapist, of which Morgan was convicted in Winnebago County Circuit Court on December 18, 2008.  He was sentenced March 19, 2009 to six years probation and nine months jail time.

Other terms of his sentence included prohibition against practicing psychology or psychiatry or counseling people in vulnerable positions or employment that would permit him to have authority over vulnerable people.  He must also register as a sex offender.

(His registration can be confirmed by gong to the National Sex Offender Registry website and entering “Morgan” and then hit “search” and it will pull  up several Morgans, of which he is one.)

Source: Final Decision and Order LS 0808206 MED, in the Matter of the Disciplinary Proceedings Against Charles D. Morgan, M.D., Division of Enforcement Case # 08 MED 207, State of Wisconsin Medical Examining Board.

Story used with permission of Citizens Commission on Human Rights International.

More complaints surface against psychiatrist Karl Strelnick

The latest complaint against Milwaukee psychiatrist Karl Strelnick to the state’s Medical Examining Board is the ninth allegation of wrongdoing brought against him since 1984, documents obtained by the Journal Sentinel show.

Strelnick, who was suspended without pay from his job at the Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex in August, is scheduled to appear before the County’s Personnel Review Board on Tuesday to try to get his job back.

The records, provided to the newspaper through a records request to the state, show for the first time the number of complaints against Strelnick to the state’s licensing board.

In handling those complaints, the board twice disciplined Strelnick, while the other earlier cases were dismissed.

In one of those cases, reported last month by the newspaper, state Department of Justice investigators felt a woman’s allegations that Strelnick repeatedly had sex with her while she was a patient at the Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex were credible.

However, the agency declined to pursue charges because they worried that the stress of testifying could lead her to commit suicide. They referred the matter to the Medical Examining Board, which cited similar witness issues in dismissing the case.

The most recent investigation, opened last month, relates to the case of a woman who became pregnant at the complex after having sex with another patient, despite orders from her guardian that she be placed on birth control shots.

The Journal Sentinel reported in August that complex officials did not notify the woman’s guardian for weeks of the pregnancy, while she remained on drugs known to be harmful to fetuses.

After the pregnancy was discovered, the patient was transferred to a ward overseen by Strelnick.

Following the newspaper’s investigation, Strelnick, 61, was suspended without pay from his job at the complex.

Strelnick and his lawyer have refused repeated requests for comment.

Strelnick was hired by the county in 1991, despite having had his license suspended for two years in 1987 after he admitted having sex with two patients while in private practice in Madison. Before that, he was reprimanded in 1984 after he was unable to provide proof that he took continuing medical education credits as he had claimed.

The newly obtained records show that four complaints against Strelnick – filed in 1988, 1989, 1997 and one from 2010 – were dismissed without an investigation. Two others, filed in 2006 and 2007, prompted investigations, but were without any action against Strelnick.

One of those involved the patient who claimed Strelnick had sex with her. The other involved the starvation death of Cindy Anczak, a patient of Strelnick’s at the complex.

The investigation begun last month remains open.

Restrictions removed

After Strelnick was hired by the county in 1991, Jon Gudeman, the former director of the Mental Health Complex, petitioned the licensing board six times for restrictions against Strelnick’s license to be removed. Ultimately they were.

After Gudeman left the county, he was appointed to the Medical Examining Board in 2003 by then-Gov. Jim Doyle. His term expired in July 2007. Gudeman did not vote on matters concerning Strelnick.

Gudeman told the Journal Sentinel he does not recall any matters involving Strelnick while he was on the board.

“Nothing at all,” Gudeman said.

Board records show action on the investigations opened in 2006 and 2007 came after Gudeman left the board.

Last month, the Journal Sentinel reported that records showed investigators for the state, unable to find enough evidence in 2007 to criminally charge Strelnick in the case where a patient alleged he had sex with her, thought there was enough information to refer the matter to the state licensing board.

“We gathered significant information in the case,” Thomas Storm, director of the state Department of Justice’s Medicaid Fraud Unit, said in an interview. “If we thought it was totally without merit, we wouldn’t waste their time.”

In that case, the patient said Strelnick had sex with her several times at the complex in 2002. She came forward in late 2006, after Journal Sentinel stories about the death of Anczak.

The patient who alleged Strelnick had sex with her had been charged with drunken driving for the fifth time and was sent to the complex after sheriff deputies worried that she would commit suicide. After she was convicted, she was transferred to Taycheedah Correctional Institute in 2002 and served nine years.

State Department of Justice investigators said they found her to be credible but worried the stress of making her testify could lead her to be suicidal.

Notes from the Medical Examining Board’s investigation, provided to the newspaper, show investigators came to a similar conclusion.

The board’s prosecuting attorney indicated there was a lack of independent evidence, so the case would turn largely on the witnesses’ credibility.

Because the woman had such an extensive criminal history, Jack Zweig, the board’s attorney, wrote “We would have no reasonable probability of meeting our burden of proof at a hearing.”

Another woman has come forward in recent months to say that she and Strelnick had sex regularly while she was a patient of his in Madison in the 1980s.

The woman, now a medical doctor in New York, filed a complaint against Strelnick with the Medical Examining Board. The board voted not to pursue action, saying Strelnick had been disciplined for his behavior during that era.

Those same board members, however, voted to open a new investigation of Strelnick’s handling of the pregnant patient’s case.

Complaints against Karl Strelnick

Here is a look at how the state Medical Examining Board has handled complaints against psychiatrist Karl Strelnick:

• 1984: Strelnick is reprimanded after he is unable to provide proof that he took continuing medical education credits as he had claimed.

• 1987: Strelnick’s medical license is suspended for two years after he admits having sex with two patients during therapy while he is in private practice in Madison.

• 1988: A complaint is filed alleging professional misconduct. The case is dismissed without an investigation.

• 1989: Another complaint is filed alleging professional misconduct. Again, it is dismissed without an investigation.

• 1997: A third complaint is filed alleging professional misconduct. It is dismissed without an investigation.

• 2006: The board opens an investigation after the Journal Sentinel reports the starvation death of Cindy Anczak, one of Strelnick’s patients. State investigators say Strelnick is negligent in the death, but so are other medical workers at the complex. The case is closed the following year with no action taken.

• 2007: An investigator for the state’s Department of Justice refers to the board the case of a woman who claims to have had sex with Strelnick at the complex. Strelnick denies the charge. The investigator says he finds the woman’s claims to be credible but he is worried that the stress of a trial would be dangerous to her health. The examining board closes the case without any action.

• 2010: A former patient of Strelnick’s, a medical doctor from New York, files a complaint saying that she had sex with Strelnick each week for more than three years while she was a patient of his in the early 1980s in Madison. The case is dismissed without an investigation because board members say he was disciplined for that same kind of behavior during the same time frame.

• 2010: The board opens a case related to the handling of a developmentally disabled woman who got pregnant at the complex after she had sex with another patient.   A Journal-Sentinel investigation found the woman’s guardian had not been told about the pregnancy for weeks.  After the pregnancy was discovered, she was transferred to a ward overseen by Strelnick.

Source: Meg Kissinger, “More Strelnick complaints surface,” Jornal-Sentinel, January 9, 2010.

Washinton refuses to license mental health counselor whose license was yanked in other state for patient sex

On September 2, 2010, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) denied John H. Del Signore’s application for a credential to practice as a mental health counselor associate.

According to the DOH’s Order, Del Signore surrendered his license to practice as a professional counselor to the state of Colorado on October 28, 2009, based on his sexual contact with a client, maintaining an inappropriate relationship with a client and with providing services which fell below generally accepted standards.

“Del Signore surrendered his license to practice as a professional counselor to the state of Colorado on October 28, 2009, based on his sexual contact with a client….”

On December 15, 2009, Del Signore applied for a mental health counselor credential with Washington’s Department of Health Counselor Programs (Program).  The application required him to answer questions regarding previous denials, revocations and/or suspensions of health care license, to which he answered “yes.”

The Program issued a denial on April 9, 2010.  Del Signore filed a request for Adjudicate Proceeding on April 14, 2010.  The Presiding Officer of that Proceeding found that Del Signore is not qualified to practice as a mental health counselor in the state of Washington.

Source: Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Final Order in the Matter of John Henry Del Signore, Application No. MHCA. MC. 60133243, Master Case No. M2010-353, State of Washington Department of Health Adjudicative Service Unit.

State of Washington issues charge against psychiatrist Richard T. Adamson for sexual misconduct

On August 10, 2010, the State of Washington Department of Health (DOH) issued a Statement of Charges on psychiatrist Richard T. Adamson, alleging sexual misconduct, disclosure by a health care provider and unprofessional conduct.  According to the DOH’s document:

Adamson provided medication management and psychotherapy for “Patient A” from July 2004 to November 2008.  Early in therapy, “A” revealed that she had been sexually abused by her father.

Adamson violated doctor-patient boundaries by providing business consultation services to “A,” herself a family practice physician, from September 2006 until October 2008.

In mid-November 2008, Adamson and “A” attended a four-day conference in Colorado during which Adamson violated professional boundaries by dining with “A” and sharing personal information with her about his wife’s suicide and by kissing her in his office on their return from the conference.

On November 21, 2008, Adamson and “A” met at his office for a final psychotherapy session during which he encouraged “A” to seek treatment with someone else, then engaged in sexual intercourse with “A.”

From December 2008 to June 2009, “A” frequently met Adamson at his office and they would have sex.  “A” left her husband and moved into an apartment, where Adamson also engaged in sex with “A.”

The sexual relationship between Adamson and “A” ended sometime in June 2009 after Adamson told “A” that during their relationship he had been obsessed with another younger married woman and had engaged in “phone sex” and “instant messaging sex” with her.

The sexual relationship between Adamson and “A” ended sometime in June 2009 after Adamson told “A” that during their relationship he had been obsessed with another younger married woman and had engaged in “phone sex” and “instant messaging sex” with her.

Adamson treated “Patient B” on and off between September 1989 and January 2010.  The DOH’s document alleges:

In April or May 2009, Adamson disclosed to “A” that “B,” who had been the appointment before hers, had been talking about her in therapy, had a crush on her and wanted to ask her out.

In April or May 2009, “B” met “A” in the waiting room of Adamson’s office.  “B” developed a friendship with “A” and they saw one another socially until approximately November 2009.  In September 2009, “B” told Adamson that “A” had indicated she did not want to pursue a dating relationship with him.  “A” also told “B” that she had romantic feelings for another man whom she described as unrequited love interest.

Adamson violated doctor-patient boundaries when he (1) communicated to “B” that “A” was his patient and that he had a romantic relationship with her, (2) shared aspects of his personal life with “B” and (3) communicated to “A” information about the contents of his session with “B.”

Source: Statement of Charges in the Matter of the License to Practice as a Physician and Surgeon of Richard T. Adamson, M.D., License No. MD00019594, Case No. M2010-287, State of Washington Department of Health.

 

Psychiatrist Gurmeet Multani surrenders license on charge of sex with patients

A Colton psychiatrist surrendered his license to practice medicine on Friday after being accused of having sex with patients and wrongfully prescribing drugs to patients with histories of drug abuse.

Gurmeet Singh Multani, who has been a licensed doctor since 1990, turned over his license to the state medical board.

Medical board officials said Multani had sex with a patient he was treating for depression and sexual trauma. He provided counseling to the woman between July 2006 and March 2007.

The patient said Multani “paid her various amounts of money for sex, including one occasion in which he paid her $2,000 for sex,” according to an accusation by the medical board.

Multani also gave her vehicles during their relationship.

Erin Muellenberg, Multani’s attorney, said he has denied all of the allegations, but decided to turn over his license and retire to avoid a stressful, expensive legal battle.

“The decision was simply one of convenience and to avoid stress by not going through what is involved in a trial of this matter,” Muellenberg said.

“It’s clearly been a strain on him. That was part of what he looked at and part of what his family looked at in making the decision that it was not worth the fight.”

Multani is a community servant who treated the homeless mentally ill who couldn’t pay for care, Muellenberg said.

“He was very saddened by (the allegations) and is still looking forward to serving his community in other ways,” she said.

He had sex with another woman between February 2007 and February 2008 while providing her with marital counseling, the medical board report said.

Investigators said the patient and Multani “met at various places to have sexual intercourse. The places included a hotel in Ontario and a house owned by (Multani) in Redlands.”

The woman’s husband was also receiving counseling from Multani for marital difficulties, but he treated him separately.

Medical board investigators discovered Multani prescribed narcotics to a woman with a 10-year history of addiction to drugs such as Vicodin and codeine.

During an appointment, the patient told investigators Multani touched her legs and other parts of her body “for his own sexual gratification,” the report said.

Multani prescribed drugs to another patient with a history of drug addiction.

Medical board officials said that patient died in December 2009 due to liver failure from acetaminophen toxicity.

But Muellenberg said Multani had surveillance cameras installed in every room where he visited with patients and no video evidence exists proving he engaged in inappropriate activity in his office.

“There was never an issue that anything could have happened,” Muellenberg said. “It’s just unfortunate that the medical board decided to take this position and the claimants decided to go after him.”

The medical board charged Multani with numerous California Business and Professions code violations including sexual abuse, failure to maintain adequate records and gross negligence. It’s unknown if Multani will be charged criminally.

Source: Melissa Pinion-Whitt and Michael J. Sorba. “Colton psychiatrist accused of having sex with patients,” Redlands Daily Facts, October 4, 2010.